Dayton native and psychic medium, Travis Holp is as rare as they come. He’s spunky, kind and hilarious – and your late loved one might be telling him your family’s hot gossip.
Holp will bring humor, heart and unimaginable insight into the spirit world at Funny Bone Comedy Club Columbus on May 13 at 7 p.m. on his The Dead Serious Tour.
For ticket info or to learn more about Travis, visit: www.travisholp.com.
After I underwent my own powerful reading by Holp, it was his turn in the hot seat. Here’s what I learned about the Warrior Unicorn:
MF: I have to ask the obvious question first, What is it like to be a psychic medium giving a reading?
Holp: Spirits will give me bits of information, like who they were, how they passed, names, and dates. Names and dates can be relative to them or relative to you. And then the other thing is, I do have a library of signs and symbols that I developed over time. I'll share with you what those signs and symbols are, and how I'm interpreting it, but you might interpret it a different way.
Brazen House Studios
MF: What do you mean by signs and symbols getting interpreted differently?
Holp: For example, I had a woman who I was reading for, her departed husband was coming through and was showing me hot dogs. There were all these hot dogs, and I was like, ‘Does he love hot dogs? because I just keep seeing all of these hot dogs.' She goes, ‘He actually hated them, but he owned a hot dog cart,’ so it was relative and specific to him and to her.
MF: How are you able to intertwine comedy with something that is considered more dark or mystical?
Holp: I actually tell people I'm not a comedian. I'm just gay and have trauma. So, I'm just funny. It was part of the deal.
MF: But have you always been a performer?
Holp: I did drag in Columbus a long time ago, but then I was in the beauty industry for 17 years. And so, being in comedy clubs as a medium, that was all new to me. When I came out as a medium, and I started doing live events, I found an agent, and they immediately started putting me in comedy clubs because comedy clubs are looking for this kind of new, fresh thing to bring to their audiences.
MF: What has been your experience performing at comedy clubs?
Brazen House Studios
Holp: It's been great, and I love it so much. I did my shows in theaters before, and that was fine, but there's something about the setting of these clubs where it just feels more intimate. It feels more like people are a part of what's happening versus just observing what's happening, if that makes sense.
MF: What has been the audiences’ typical reactions so far?
Holp: I think with comedy clubs, you get people who come to something like this that wouldn't normally go see a medium, it's like you're just kind of wanting to dip your toe in, but maybe you don't want a reading, maybe you don't want to do the whole thing, but you're curious, or maybe you're skeptic and you're just going for a good time, whatever it is, I mean, I can guarantee people are going to have a great time at the show, whether they believe in what I do or not.
MF: Do they think you’re the real deal?
Holp: My job as a medium is not to prove anything to anybody. My job is to simply deliver messages, and my hope is that people come to the show, feel uplifted, feel hopeful, but also, if they leave with a little bit more belief that there is something beyond this physical experience, that our loved ones, in spirit, they are with us, I've done my job.
MF: How do you keep yourself from being weighed down by all of the energy you’re receiving?
Holp: It's a lot of energy. It's a lot of energy that I feel like I start to talk really fast, it feels like I have to get the information out, or like I'm going to lose it. I mean, it's kind of like that feeling of like I've got this thought, I want to hold on to it, but it feels good when I'm done, I feel really energized. If I'm feeling sick, if I have a headache, if I'm having a rough day, I always feel incredible after giving a reading.
MF: You express yourself with so much infectious positivity, where do you think this comes from?
Holp: I never deliver any bad news. I never deliver anything that is scary. The way that I work with spirits is to work with messages of hope, healing and transformation. So I trust whatever you receive is what's needed. Also, I love astrology, but it's not like my field of study, but it's fascinating to me, and I actually found out that Jupiter rules my chart, and if Jupiter rules your chart, you're just that eternal optimist, like anything that happens, that we would see as negative, we're doing it for the plot. Or, there's some kind of lesson in everything and I've always been that way but, you know, I think that there's a lot of power in that. When we choose to stay in that energy of joy, and for me when I stay in that energy of joy, I feel energized, I feel hopeful. If I do find myself slipping into a place that is more negative or sad, I let myself be there. We have to feel what we're feeling. But, what I find is, that if I stay there too long, I get tired, I get sick, you know, my energy drags. So, for me, it just feels better just to find that rainbow or find that glimmer of hope.
MF: Are there any conflicts or complications that can arise during readings?
Holp: If there's something you forget, something that doesn't connect, or something that doesn't quite resonate, just write it down. I can't tell you how many times I'll give like a date or a name and someone will come back to me and go, 'Oh, that was their middle name, and I totally forgot,' or, 'Oh, that was their birthday,' or 'That's when they passed.' That's okay. That's the stuff that people tend to kind of forget.
MF: I understand that your queer identity is very important to you as a performer and as an individual, why?
Holp: For me, being gay and sharing it is important because you still see a lot of people who hide or turn away from who they are in many facets, not just sexual orientation, and I think it's important to share that because I know that when I was a kid, I would have loved to have seen more people that were who they were. I think queer visibility is important. It's important for people to be the full expression of who they are.
Holp’s book, Are You There Spirit? It’s Me, Travis, gives readers an intimate look at his journey as a psychic medium and his experiences connecting with the spirit world, available on November 4.
More of a listener than a reader? Holp’s new and in-the-works podcast, discussing topics of spirituality, manifestation, intuition and the unseen world with other experts, mediums and even some celebrities, will launch sometime this year.
Maisie Fitzmaurice is an editor at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at mfitzmaurice@cityscenemediagroup.com.
